Live! Hotel and Casino

It's been a long and contentious road, but the final decision has been made for Philadelphia's second casino. Whether you like gaming or not, if Philadelphia needs another one, the right location was chosen.

As opposed to Center City locations, Live! Hotel and Casino has always been a no brainer. 

The location has always been a no brainer...for all of Philadelphia's casinos. 

But because of state rules that prohibit pairing up competing casinos, each has to be a specific distance from another. In a way it makes sense. If casinos were allowed to compete for a location, Pennsylvania could end up with an Atlantic City without a beach. But the lack of competition also keeps each casino dumbed down to the lowest common denominator.

Nonetheless, the Stadium District is already a growing entertainment zone. Detached from residents and surrounded by freeways and parking lots, the area is free to offer bars, concert venues, and now a casino without annoying any neighbors. 

Whether or not Live!'s hotel materializes, like the component that seems to have been abandoned by SugarHouse, the casino will benefit from adjacent activity. While SugarHouse neither complements nor caters to its neighborhood, in fact it does just the opposite, Live! will be a marketable asset to Philadelphia's burgeoning party strip. 

Philadelphia Live! Casino

Have you ever looked at a map of South Philadelphia's Stadium District and wondered what its gridded streetscape would look like if the grid was actually developed? Have you driven past the prairies of parking lots east of Broad Street and wished the city didn't seem to end a few blocks south of Oregon Avenue? What if the burgeoning Navy Yard office complexes were woven into the urban fabric of South Philadelphia?

Despite the Stadium District's ample parking and convenient location, right next to I-76, I-95, and the Walt Whitman Bridge, many people - politcos mainly - complain about its relationship with the city. So much so that proposals have been pitched to relocate the Phillies stadium above the railroad tracks north of 30th Street Station and even leveling much of Callowhill and dropping it right above Chinatown.

For what? A better view of the skyline? Let's face it, we're not Pittsburgh, but we don't want to be. We're a major city, a huge city, and dare I say, a World Class city. Sure we have a lot of vacant land, but we don't have a lot of stadium sized vacant land, at least not offering an overwhelming view of the skyline.

One of the cases made whenever a politician suggests relocating the stadium is the foot traffic that could benefit Center City businesses. But in University City or Callowhill, a stadium wouldn't put baseball fans downtown much easier than it does where it is on South Broad. The city would still be saddled with rebuilding a neighborhood of attractions surrounding the stadium, and the view from the Stadium District is actually pretty phenomenal for a city this big.

Instead of bringing the stadiums to the city, which is thankfully a dead idea, the city could be brought to the Stadium District.

Well, that might happen.

Cordish Company

The Cordish Company that operates Live! Casino & Hotel has asked for the city's second casino license at 900 Packer Avenue. While casino proposals have been made for Market East and North Broad's Inquirer Building, both burdened with reasonable neighborhood opposition, the Stadium District has routinely been the "duh" location for the city's second casino.

It's a no-neighbors, already-an-entertainment district, and its blocks and blocks of surface parking lots that isolate the Navy Yard from the city are begging for development, and business.

Unlike SugarHouse's empty promise of a hotel on the waterfront, Live!'s casino within the Stadium District doesn't just have the economic motivation to actually build a hotel, but the existing stadium traffic make non-casino entertainment and retail a no-brainer.

The only head-scratcher is the state's distance restriction on its casinos. It makes sense outside Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. We don't want to turn a struggling coal town into Branson, MO with slot machines. But Pennsylvania has proven time and time again that it doesn't really understand Philadelphia. Since the casino debacle begin, many have wondered why the state didn't initially put both casinos - or more - in the Stadium District in the first place.

SugarHouse Expansion: More of the Same

SugarHouse Casino's most recent expansion proposal aims the site at the Delaware River. While private investment in Philadelphia beleaguered working river is a good thing, the lackluster expansion that once promised the city an exciting high rise gives advocates both for and against our city's casinos reason to pause.

The $155M expansion will include more event space and dining options, but the only thing challenging the Delaware River skyline will be a new seven story parking garage. The gaming floor will also be increased by 27,000 square feet. Let's be honest, this is where the money is.



Philly.com

In addition to improvements to the existing space, SugarHouse will be widening the streets surrounding the property to ease traffic congestion. Unfortunately this will make a project that once claimed to be a friendly neighbor feel more like an isolated strip mall than it already does.

While the DWRC has finally put some realistic plans in place for rejoining Center City with Penn's Landing, SugarHouse is further separating the Northern Delaware from any life but its own.

Where are the improvements that benefit its neighbors? Instead of spending $12M to accommodate more traffic, build smart and invest in improvements that get gamblers to the casino without traffic.

It's unfortunate enough that SugarHouse's site has abandoned any attempt to integrate itself into the fabric of the city, but sadly the beast is now eating away at the surrounding property with wider roads. The seven story parking garage appears to replace the large surface lot north of the casino but the asphalt prairie to the south will likely remain.

While SugarHouse and the city itself seem hell bent on ignoring the mistakes of the 70s by allowing this suburbanized plan to sprawl, hopefully we'll look twice at the dazzling proposals for Provence and Market8. When a plan calls for a "phased development," can it be trusted, or is it just a developer's cheap trick and an easy way to obtain permits?

Market8 and a Tub of Lego Blocks

When I first saw the new rendering for the Market8 Casino, I have to admit, I was a little excited. Giddy, even. We don't see a lot of proposals for new high rises in the city, particularly ones that deviate from a simple glass cube.

Market8 certainly does that.

Still, as Philebrity rightly pointed out, this casino won't happen. If we get another casino, we'll likely wind up with The Provenance or Wynn, the former being more exciting and, at the Inquirer Building, most central.

Market8 spokeswoman Maureen Garrity and lead developer Ken Goldenberg excitedly talk about engaging the site with the sidewalks, providing restaurants and retail space at street level with the casino upstairs.

That's a noble gesture and one that respects its location. In fact, in that regard, were we to actually see Market8 on Market East, it might just be the most respectful casino in any major city that doesn't exclusively cater to gambling.

Of course some of the more dangerous threats from Center City casinos come with their routinely phased development. Market8 might be pitching its casino with a high rise, but if this were to play out like SugarHouse we'd be left with a lackluster stump that looks a lot like a suburban movie theater.

Then there's parking. Market8 has clearly provided a parking garage in its design, and it appears that the surface lot on 8th and Chestnut is still available in the rendering. But SugarHouse provides a similar configuration, plus acres of surface parking lots sometimes full.

It won't take long for predatory land hoarders to recognize a demand for supplemental parking and begin buying up and demolishing adjacent buildings. Keep in mind, historic Jewelers Row is a block away. 

Market8 can't be blamed for this, particularly when the Pennsylvania Convention Center was allowed to move forward with no designated parking. But until the city sets a moratorium on private parking or raises the taxes on these lots, any casino in a depressed zone like Market East or North Broad unintentionally threatens the surrounding architecture.

Beyond the possibility that Market8 could replace the Disney Hole for an even larger Casino Hole, there's the redesign itself. Market8's previous rendering called for a low profile building running horizontally between 8th and 9th. It was sleek and modern, but also subtle and sophisticated. Of all the proposed casino designs in Philadelphia, it was the most applauded, even by some in the casino opposition camp. But for some reason, Market8's design team decided to throw out their webbed facade for something entirely different.

Maureen Garrity and Ken Goldenberg pitched the latest incarnation as a nod to the corridor's historic infrastructure, siting it a modernist interpretation of Wanamaker's or Gimbel's, essentially suggesting the more traditional approach is what we'd expect to see if Market East were the thriving commercial it should be.

I see what they're getting at. Market8's geometric shapes and ABC color palette reference recent proposals for a revived Girard Trust Block and renovations for The Galley at Market East. 

Previous Proposal for Market8

It's unfortunate because the previous design was a nice start. Even if Market8 faces an uphill battle, one it will likely lose, exciting proposals are exciting nevertheless. Instead of building on the prior concept, Market8 decided to play with a tub of Lego Blocks and gave us a collage of recycled postmodernism. 

Casino Craze: Part Deux

Bart Blatstein resurrected the Great Casino Debate with his proposed entertainment complex at the Inquirer Building which, admittedly, I think is a bit too Vegas for Center City. Not the casino itself, mind you, but the Tiny Town he proposed building on the roof of the building.

With a little excitement behind the second leg of the debate (and a lot of resistance), developer Ken Goldenberg has thrown his name into the casino hat with a proposal at a much more logical location: Market East. More specifically, the abhorred Disney Hole. Of course it's easy to dub this proposal Disney 2.0, but the same could be said for any entertainment project of this scale.

The preliminary rendering is vague at best, but pretty sleek. Backed by Campus Apartments and Deutsch Bank, the promise of investors are just as exciting as a destination attraction on our forlorn Market East.

Called Market8, Goldberg is off to a good start claiming the entertainment complex will only "happen to have a casino." The venue would offer numerous restaurants and retail, and best of all, underground parking.

Bye-bye, Disney Hole.

Hey, I'm a dreamer.

The multi-faceted approach isn't just the best way to pitch a casino, but the city should have required the approach all along.

SugarHouse was one of the city's biggest planning debacles. The proposal was grand, but phased, and the first phase called for a slot barn and a parking garage.

It's funny how the city decides to exert its muscle. They micromanage parks and condos, but when it came to SugarHouse, there were no caveats.

For the record, I'm all for casinos. Not personally. They're trashy, tacky, and for me, a waste of money. However, the same could be said for City Council itself.

But Philadelphia is big enough to provide plenty of entertainment for everyone. A lot of people sell the city short, not the least of which are those who rabidly charge themselves with saving Market East. Those activists have cost the city millions debating benign improvements to this part of town.

Philadelphia is chock full of quaint Colonialism, but we aren't Williamsburg and Market East isn't the place to preserve history, particularly when its few historic properties are already protected. Give the Capitalists their playground.

With that said, the State and City missed the mark with SugarHouse, and we have a second chance to work hand in hand with private developers to mark drastic improvements to our city's core.

I will never understand why the city didn't grant SugarHouse a casino license only contingent on better development. SugarHouse's proposal had plenty of competition. They would have done anything to get that license. The city missed an opportunity to get a lot of free improvements. City Council could have gotten more than just the dynamic casino complex SugarHouse originally proposed, we could have gotten a free Delaware Avenue lightrail.

At this point SugarHouse can likely claim that it's not profitable to expand it's non-gaming oriented entertainment or hotel. I doubt that's true, but the city put no requirements on them to expand, so they're content. If the city required a hotel and convention space as part of SugarHouse's "Phase 1" the project would be a lot more exciting than it is.

If Market8 has a chance at becoming a reality, the city should seize the opportunity to not just require more than a casino from Goldenberg's venue, but ask him to flip the bill for some of the improvements this corridor desperately needs.

Foxwoods is Done!

In seemingly effortless contrast to the train wreck at South Philly's Foxwoods site, Sugarhouse Casino continued to thrive in the face of protest and economic hardship. Although it was ultimately scaled back to little more than a big box slot barn by community opposition, management and developers produced satisfying renderings, budget proposals, and above all, continued to meet deadlines in the face of chaotic adversity.

Under considerably less public scrutiny, Foxwoods has been allowed to rewrite their proposals to the point that they are no longer recognizable as the casino approved by the state years ago, and they have routinely ignored deadlines. They've proposed new locations, new investors, new names, new renderings, and spent the last four years passing the buck. The corporation has behaved like a child that tests his teachers and parents to see just how far they can be pushed. Well, finally the state has spoken. Fed up with four years of excuses, the state voted to revoke Foxwoods gaming license.

It is unclear what will happen with the available gaming license. Perhaps Gerry Lenfest can work his magic and get someone to back a casino project on the SS United States.

One big reason for the state's decision was in the way the 42% of charitable profit would be handled. Originally exclusive to local charities, Foxwoods had redirected the money to the Pequot Museum in Connecticut and the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, both organizations affiliated with Foxwoods Casinos. How do you say "shady" in Pequot?

More Casinos?

As more and more casinos open up across the Northeast, professional protesters will soon recognize the fact that they have bitten themselves in the ass by petitioning a distance between one casino to another. What could have been a clump of casinos in a gaming district destination attraction competing with each other in aesthetics, entertainment, and accommodations is slowly becoming a state filled with townships known exclusively for their one underwhelming and unattractive slot barn.